The dry conditions throughout most of Gallatin County are very conducive to wildfires starting and rapidly growing into large devastating fires. Gallatin County officials are asking everyone to limit their recreational fire use even in locations where they are still allowed.

“With much of Western Montana inundated with large wildfires, we don’t want to add Gallatin County to that list and we need everyone’s help to avoid wildfires here,”

“With wildfires burning across the West, and Hurricane Harvey in Texas, emergency resources are stretched thin. The lack of resource availability combined with the vegetation and weather conditions creates a situation that makes catching wildfires when they are small very challenging. The best way to prevent a devastating wildfire from occurring in Gallatin County is for our community to keep a fire from starting. Officials are asking our community to avoid starting fires and if they do have a recreational fire, use extreme caution.”

Open burning in Gallatin County is currently closed and the Custer-Gallatin National Forest, Montana DNRC and Montana FWP are enacting Stage 1 Fire Restrictions Saturday on their lands within Gallatin County. If you plan on recreating on public lands you should check with the respective agencies on the exact restrictions, but generally this restricts the use of campfires and smoking outdoors.

For more information about fire restrictions, and to check what areas are under restrictions, visit the Fire Restriction website at: https://firerestrictions.us/mt/ or call your local fire management agency, volunteer fire department, or county office.